The fantasy epic, which charts the history of noble dragon-wielding dynasty<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>House Targaryen 200<\/span>\u00a0years before its forerunner, <\/span><\/span>boasts an extensive ensemble, at the forefront of which was Carey. <\/span><\/p>\n She starred as Alicent Hightower, the daughter of <\/span>the King\u2019s Hand <\/span>who marries the royal and produces who she hopes will be the next heir to the most coveted chair of all, the Iron Throne.<\/span><\/p>\n It was far from Carey\u2019s first foray into \u2018lights, camera, action\u2019 \u2013 her 10-year spanning CV includes playing younger versions of Wonder Woman<\/a> and Tomb Raider<\/a>, and over 40 episodes of <\/span>British institution <\/span>Casualty<\/a> \u2013 but it was undoubtedly her rising star moment.<\/span><\/p>\n And yet, despite her rapidly growing profile, celebrity is something that still feels alien to Carey.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t even comprehend that people know me,\u201d she told RadioTimes.com<\/a>. \u201cEven when people compliment my work or I get recognised, which is few and far between, it completely catches me off guard. I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, I forgot people watched that.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Carey described House of the Dragon as a \u201csurreal\u201d experience.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think I blacked out for most of that summer [in the run-up to the release and the premiere]. I don\u2019t really know how I handled it. No one ever prepares you for it. There\u2019s no guidebook. You can talk to people who have been there and done that, but this was different and strange.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Carey talks about not knowing \u201chow the show was going to be received, especially with such a mammoth predecessor\u201d, and with \u201cpeople\u2019s opinions on how Thrones ended\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd <\/span>I remember on day one of rehearsals,\u201d she continued, \u201cBill Paterson, who is obviously legendary, and has been working for centuries, I remember him turning to [co-star] Milly [Alcock] and I and going, \u2018I\u2019m a bit nervous.\u2019 And we went, \u2018You\u2019re nervous?!\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Well, it doesn\u2019t get much bigger than this.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>It still feels so surreal. When people talk about it, I have a weird disconnect to it. It was such a strange bubble, and <\/span>it was very whirlwind. It had a start and a finish. Having the older versions take over [Carey was replaced by Olivia Cooke following a time jump], the attention and the eyes were then sent elsewhere, so I got a second to breathe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But only just. She\u2019s now back at it in Netflix\u2019s Geek Girl<\/a>, the highly anticipated adaptation of Holly Smales\u2019s hugely popular YA novel series<\/a>, which Carey has described as an \u201cextension to the book\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a huge fan growing up, and so book Harriet is very close to my screen Harriet. And Holly had such a hand in adapting the book for screen, there\u2019s so much of her essence and flavour in it that it didn\u2019t feel too far removed, at least character-wise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Carey plays Harriet Manners, the titular \u201cgeek girl\u201d, as she\u2019s snarkily dubbed by some of her peers, a fiercely intelligent high school student who unexpectedly becomes a fashion model after being scouted on a class outing<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s<\/span> worlds away from House of the Dragon \u2013 although there are wigs, and dragons (of a different kind) \u2013 which immediately appealed to Carey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely something my team and I spoke about,\u201d she said of wanting to go in a different direction with her next role.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be stuck in a niche. I think I\u2019d already created some sort of typecast for myself, unintentionally, of the sort of quieter role. And Harriet is the opposite. She\u2019s very eccentric and very loud \u2013 not loud in a literal sense, but she\u2019s got a lot of character.\u201d<\/p>\n And that is paramount for Carey when considering which roles to go for.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to have loud women on-screen. And I don\u2019t necessarily mean literally in the sense of shouting. I mean loud as in big characters; multifaceted, three-dimensional women on-screen who aren\u2019t just there to serve the purpose of feminism. They\u2019re there because they have stories to tell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s one of the ways in which Harriet and Alicent, although very different, are aligned.<\/p> Carey also notes that they\u2019re both \u201cstrong-willed\u201d, another detail she looks for when deciding which projects to attach herself to.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was raised by just my mum. I\u2019ve grown up with, in my opinion, the fiercest woman in the world, keeping a roof over my head. To this day, she\u2019s my biggest inspiration, always. So I can always find parts of my mum in characters I play, and the correlation between that is the strength. It\u2019s always something that I land on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Harriet\u2019s inner steel certainly comes in handy across the 10 episodes.<\/p>\n Smale is autistic, and it was only after she finished writing the book that she realised her protagonist is too, which can sometimes work in Harriet\u2019s favour, but it also presents challenges, particularly when navigating unknown territory.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s something that Carey can also relate to. Like Smale and Harriet, she is autistic, which the actor addressed herself on Instagram<\/a> when it was announced that she would be taking on the role.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of similarities between me when I was younger and the Harriet that I play,\u201d she told RadioTimes.com<\/strong>. \u201cIt felt like I was revisiting myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s that personal connection which first drew her to the books, and what makes this such an exciting project for her to be involved in.<\/p>\n \u201cI became so attached to the books because the character made me feel so incredibly seen\u2026 at a time when I felt so strongly like I didn\u2019t belong anywhere. <\/span>Finding Harriet Manners, I felt like I belonged with her in that world.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd now p<\/span>laying her, when I had to sit there and sob, it felt weirdly cathartic, like I was releasing something that my inner child needed to release somewhere \u2013 which sounds so overdramatic, but it\u2019s so true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But while Harriet\u2019s neurodivergence is central to Geek Girl, this is also<\/span>\u00a0a universal story.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs Harriet says at the beginning of episode 1, this is a story for anyone who\u2019s ever felt like they haven\u2019t fit in. <\/span>And I\u2019m assuming that\u2019s most of us. Everyone has had a circumstance or situation or room where they feel they don\u2019t belong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd it would have meant everything to me to see a character like this on-screen [growing up], someone who is so unapologetically weird and geeky but finds her people and finds her tribe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With Geek Girl\u2019s release imminent, Carey\u2019s profile is set to expand once again. But with that excitement and the possibility attached to that comes some anxiety.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course that crossed my mind,\u201d she said of feeling the expectation to be a role model for her fans. <\/span>\u201cI think anyone who is rapidly gaining some form of following, whether that be through acting or even just in the age of TikTok<\/a> where people can blow up overnight, it\u2019s scary, suddenly feeling eyes on you.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I did feel this responsibility to suddenly not just talk about things and be conscious of what I was putting out, but also be conscious of how much of myself I was sharing with the world. You do have to suddenly take a step back and find a disconnect.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have a very complex relationship with social media and my following. As I said, you can\u2019t really process and comprehend that people can see you. It\u2019s just numbers on a screen, and it\u2019s just noise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Although she does feel some guilt about taking a step back in the \u201ccurrent climate\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEspecially with all of the things that are going on in the world, it is now more than ever so important to talk about things,\u201d she continued. \u201cI\u2019m a huge advocate for queer rights, as a queer person myself.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFree Palestine, I will also say that. <\/span>And I know that there will be people who will be raising eyebrows, and I hope my agent doesn\u2019t tell me off for making political statements, but it isn\u2019t political. It\u2019s human rights. And as I said, with the platform that I have, it\u2019s so important for me to speak, now more than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo I think I\u2019m learning to step into it when I want to or when I need to, and then I have an ability to sort of disconnect when I can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n What does Carey tap into away from acting to centre herself?<\/p>\n \u201cMy friends are everything to me. I\u2019m so, so lucky to have an incredible support system who keep me very sane and grounded in a world in which it\u2019s so easy, especially in this industry, to become a hermit and come home from work after a really long day and just not want to talk to anyone and just be in your own space, which sometimes you have to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And then there\u2019s LEGO.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my way to disconnect. It\u2019s so easy to just switch off and I go on autopilot. You just sit and follow instructions, and it keeps my hands busy. I love my LEGO.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s currently building the Pac-Man Arcade, which she\u2019s enjoying immensely, but she\u2019s \u201cproudest of\u201d the Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night, <\/span>which is hanging on her wall.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like a piece of art. I\u2019m obsessed with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While there\u2019s no LEGO in Geek Girl, Harriet could probably benefit from investing in some, if Carey\u2019s extolling is anything to go by.<\/p>\n What does she hope viewers will gain from watching the show?<\/p>\n \u201cI hope people find joy, especially with the last episode and how it ends. [I hope people feel] a sense of belonging and comfort.<\/p>\n \u201cT<\/span>he show is so much about taking ownership of your situation and that\u2019s exactly what she does. A<\/span>s Harriet says, sometimes to change your life, you have to stand out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Geek Girl arrives on Netflix on<\/strong>\u00a0Thursday 30th May \u2013\u00a0sign up for Netflix from \u00a34.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on\u00a0Sky Glass<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The House of the Dragon star speaks exclusively to RadioTimes.com about Netflix’s latest big release, based on the beloved YA book series of the same name. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":52282,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged.jpg",617,409,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged-300x199.jpg",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged.jpg",617,409,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged.jpg",617,409,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged.jpg",617,409,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/emily-carey-on-geek-girl-finding-harriet-manners-i-felt-like-i-belonged.jpg",617,409,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The House of the Dragon star speaks exclusively to RadioTimes.com about Netflix's latest big release, based on the beloved YA book series of the same name.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/52281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Emily](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/Geek-Girl-Main-ec0ca82.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Geek")
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